Many commercially available motor vehicles are equipped with power antennas. A power antenna is an antenna with a motorized mechanism that extends and retracts the antenna. Power antennas are generally less robust than fixed antennas and can experience damage when flexed beyond tolerable limits.
One source of damage to a power antenna may be an automatic car wash. Generally, car washes have brushes and/or other apparatus that pass over the car, including the car's antenna. When the car wash brushes encounter a power antenna, they may force the antenna to flex beyond tolerable limits, thereby damaging the antenna. The result may be a non-working antenna that needs to be replaced or repaired before it will again operate properly. This potential damage by automated car washes may be avoided by retracting the power antenna, which is typically achieved by turning off the vehicle ignition and/or radio. The damage typically occurs when the vehicle antenna is left extended when the vehicle rides through the automated car wash (i.e., the vehicle operator forgets to turn off the radio). One proposed solution for preventing damage to power antennas left extended in the vehicle car wash is set forth in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/075,431, filed on Jun. 14, 1993, now abandoned in favor of continuing application Ser. No. 08/286,095, now abandoned.